Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

This really is a full service blog.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

No one could have predicted…

“But what about the lurkers?”

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

This blog will pay for itself.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

People are complicated. Love is not.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

You are here: Home / Immigration / The Brown Enemy Within / Le freak, c’est chic

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102Comments

  3. 3.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    I haven’t been able to hear anything over the weird flubbery sound of 20 million pairs of pants being shit.

  4. 4.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    According to Limbaugh it is all about getting votes. According to him “all abortions are by democrats so they are aborting themselves out of existence, so they need the illegals to make up the numbers.” No. I am not making this shit up.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    The President was to speak at 1:15 and he’s late. Maybe Boehner’s tears made him reconsider.

  9. 9.

    jl

    Not so sure about that. Most groups with large immigrant population keep a much closer watch on the issue than others.

    If wingnuts do freak, thatg will force Willard to act weird and strange and perhaps even in ways that might suggest he is not altogether trustworthy, repeatedly, in front of the whole country. But Willard will do that anyway.

    So, yeah, a freakout would provide a little extra juice to to public contempt for MItt, but I don’t think needed to get attention of groups directly affected by the directive.

  10. 10.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    If this plays out like Slutgate it may take a month for the Right to have its hysterical paroxysm

  14. 14.

    Linda Featheringill

    Redstate is calling it a constitutional crisis, disregard of separation of powers, etc.

    Plus some name calling.

    Sticks and stones.

  16. 16.

    Felinious Wench

    Red State is calling it a Constitutional Crisis.

    Malkin is spitting over how he’s circumventing the “Rule of Law.”

    Politico is quoting Republicans saying “He’s ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, the slick bastard.” (paraphrased)

    Rubio is crying “it’s a short-term solution, damn it! We need more!”

    The general emerging meme is outrage at the temerity to go around Congress and get this done. And how it’s that good ol’ slippery slope to full amnesty. And “it’s cravenly political.” Republicans in Congress are apoplectic.

    It’s absolutely delicious.

  17. 17.

    Linda Featheringill

    I was trying to wait to listen to the formal announcement from the White House [looks like the rose garden]. But Obama is late and I gotta get back to work. I’ll try to catch up later.

    [I do wonder if this will be as big as Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage?]

  20. 20.

    Anoniminous

    Sorry.

    Illogic, unreason, bad grammar, and an inability to spell gives me hairballs.

    The Value-Added of BJ is I don’t have to read that shit to know what they are thinking opinionating.

  22. 22.

    Culture of Truth

    “This huge policy shift has horrible consequences for unemployed Americans looking for jobs and violates President Obama’s oath to uphold the laws of this land,” House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith said

  24. 24.

    Culture of Truth

    LIMBAUGH:

    “I have a name for this new Obama immigration policy. In case you haven’t heard, folks, very quickly: The regime today told the border agents: “If you catch young illegals, let ’em go and grant ’em work permits.” No more deportation of illegal immigrants. They are to be given work permits and they can stay in the country. So what this is is “Catch, Release, Vote.”

  25. 25.

    jl

    Isn’t it just a directive on how to prioritize deportations?

    Hope Obama does more of executive directives like this one. Some on economy would be nice.

    Cynical political side is that Obama is implicitly saying “you like this? Better vote for me and reasonable Congress or it will go away” And gives opportunity for other side to make fools of themselves, and opportunity to open fissures in GOP.

    On non cynical side, it gets some responsible governerating done.

  26. 26.

    Bubblegum Tate

    The wingers I read haven’t made a peep about it. I guess they haven’t gotten their talking points yet, but I can confidently predict that a decent chunk of them will latch onto Allen West’s “this is just opening the door to vote fraud!” bullshit and repeat it ad nauseum.

  27. 27.

    Culture of Truth

    THE DEBT THE DEBT

    “It will also place a further strain upon limited resources as it will be easier for those granted work authorization to attain government benefits during this time of extraordinary debt.”

  28. 28.

    bemused

    An msnbc reporter said he didn’t recognize the shouter who seemed to have a temporary press pass.

  29. 29.

    FlipYrWhig

    Interesting… I guess the Republicans found it within themselves to counteract executive power after all! BTW, this is why complaints about the Rule Of Law never go anywhere towards convincing anybody of anything, whether they’re aired by left-leaning civil libertarians or wild-eyed wingnuts.

  30. 30.

    amk

    Apparently some daily caller thug reporter is booing his speech. Now the peak wingnut has arrived.

  31. 31.

    Anoniminous

    @Culture of Truth:

    “This huge policy shift has horrible consequences for unemployed Americans looking for jobs and violates President Obama’s oath to uphold the laws of this land,” “Mex-cans out compete White Southern Males with no jobs, no money, no education, and no teeth,” House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith said.

    FIFY

  33. 33.

    quannlace

    Mitt’s just miffed that this steals coverage of the start of his Magical Mystery bus tour.

  34. 34.

    different-church-lady

    …and force Romney to condemn the brown enemy within.

    Considering that Romney today decided to go dog whistle on homophobia, I’d say the odds are pretty good he’ll volunteer without any resistance.

  38. 38.

    Sasha

    Those of you who consume winger media: how goes the freak out thus far?

    Considering that a winger media person rudely interrupted the President and attempted to start an argument as Obama was making his Rose Garden statement, the freak-out continues apace.

  41. 41.

    Raven

    “Neil Munro of the Daily Caller interrupted Obama, asking something about favoring foreigners over Americans”

  42. 42.

    FlipYrWhig

    @amk: Maybe next a Romney staffer will come to an Obama event with an air horn. People don’t like rudeness and bullshit.

  44. 44.

    kindness

    Over at NPR the reichtwingnutz that have taken over the comment sections have gone all in. I swear, NPR must be on one of the right wing list-serves where they are notified to go over in force and push the comments in their direction cause it’s crazy there now.

  45. 45.

    4tehlulz

    Are reporters frisked before being seeing the president?

    If not, this might be a good time to start.

  46. 46.

    Mike Lamb

    @jl: Yes, basically it is. Also known as prosecutorial discretion.

    To paraphrase: Separation of powers, you keep using that term. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  48. 48.

    gbear

    I’m hoping that the next cool thing that Obama figures out is a way to entice Clarence Thomas into either a new position or an early retirement. Ponies for everyone.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    Those of you who consume winger media: how goes the freak out thus far?

    Liberal public radio station is covering it, and has a listener poll.
    Of 502 taking the poll, 53 percent support the president, 34% think it goes too far, and 12% say it has not gone far enough.

    Obviously, this poll is nonscientific, yada yada yada

    A political analyst says the change in policy will have no impact on “undecided voters.” Obviously, this is also nonscientific yada yada yada.

    Listener comment on the site:

    First, the proper steps should be taken to really cut off illegal immigration. Then, we can look at the best way to deal with existing illegal aliens. First things first!

    Out here in Southern California, I expect the top rated afternoon drive time talk radio guys, John and Ken, to go ballistic over this. I am guessing that the most common view will be that the children of illegal immigrants to not deserve any breaks, and things like the Dream Act only encourage illegal immigration and anchor babies.

  54. 54.

    Nina

    Freak Republic’s talking point – the brown people are going to take the black people’s jobs, which will somehow turn all the blacks away from the Democrats. Magical thinking.

  56. 56.

    dedc79

    I doubt the republican nutters will be content to hear the romney campaign call this a political stunt (which was mostly how they responded to Obama’s gay marriage statement). Even Romney, who always seems to manage to avoid being tied down to any position on anything, is probably going to have to say something substantive about this – even if it’s as simple as “No, I disagree with this new policy”.

  60. 60.

    David Koch

    @Nemo_N: yup, he was actually billed as “America’s Toughest Sheriff”. I wish I was making that up. No wonder CNN’s ratings are in the toilet.

  61. 61.

    handy

    @Brachiator:

    I can’t wait until 4 PM rolls by just so I can jump into my car and listen to the shrieks of terror from those two. It will be delicious.

  62. 62.

    JenJen

    @Raven: Great. So any minute now we can expect a flurry of tweets from Jake Tapper defending the Daily Caller as a legitimate news organization.

  64. 64.

    Martin

    @Brachiator:

    Out here in Southern California, I expect the top rated afternoon drive time talk radio guys, John and Ken, to go ballistic over this.

    They’ll be apoplectic, but they always are. Fuck em. Piolín has 10x the audience.

    I remember the Amtrak crash and John and Ken within the span of 5 minutes went from bitching about tax dollars going to mass transit given the budget crisis to bitching about why the train didn’t have a hundred million dollars more in safety features.

    Unfortuantely, though we’re the biggest beneficiaries of this policy, its not going to help Obama. He’s already got the state locked. Should help him hold Nevada though. Might help the state budget as well, though. Wouldn’t mind that one bit.

  66. 66.

    Culture of Truth

    Are reporters frisked before being seeing the president?

    Jeff Gannon used to.

  69. 69.

    Davis X. Machina

    @David Koch: Thinking back 30 years, I remember living in Atlanta in the fall of ’82, where there used to be a radio station that just played CNN’s audio, during the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon, and the naval evacuation of the PLO’s top command and remaining fighters to Tunis. At the same time I had a shortwave converter in the car — yep, they made ’em’ — and there wasn’t much to pick from between BBC World Service coverage and CNN.

    Somebody seriously fscked up somewhere along the line.

  70. 70.

    kindness

    Even though this will bring good will (and votes) from Hispanic Americans to President Obama, let’s face it….This has got to be bad news for President Obama.

  72. 72.

    bupalos

    From a quick survey, it looks like they intend to cast this as another brick in the wall of “Obama isn’t an American/ is too stupid and/or lazy and/or black and/or tyrannical to understand the constitooshun.”

    Tactically this seems like a good move and very analogous to the contraception thing. At the very least, it set in motion some dominoes that will cross Rubio off the veep list.

  73. 73.

    Snowwy

    I plan to remember this heckling bullshit the next time some wingnut fuckhead demands I respect a Republican president…

  74. 74.

    Davis X. Machina

    @bupalos: There are only so many plausible ways to neutralize a top-of-the-ballot Republican.

    Obama can make only one guy at a time our ambassador to Beijing, after all.

  75. 75.

    Nemo_N

    Hey, that guy might have heckled Obama but there was a decapitated head of Dubya in Game of Thrones so it’s all good, both sides do it.

  76. 76.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @quannlace:

    Mitt’s just miffed that this steals coverage of the start of his Magical Mystery bus tour.

    I am the Eggman! I am the Eggman! I am the Walrus!

  77. 77.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:
    RE: Out here in Southern California, I expect the top rated afternoon drive time talk radio guys, John and Ken, to go ballistic over this.

    They’ll be apoplectic, but they always are. Fuck em. Piolín has 10x the audience.

    Piolín is morning drive time, and his show is entirely in Spanish. John and Ken are Number 3 in afternoon drive time, and are probabably stronger in Orange County than in Los Angeles County. Their bark is worse than their bite, but they love to rally anti-illegal immigration callers.

    Unfortunately, though we’re the biggest beneficiaries of this policy, its not going to help Obama. He’s already got the state locked. Should help him hold Nevada though. Might help the state budget as well, though. Wouldn’t mind that one bit.

    The speech is not going to help or hurt Obama much in California, but I don’t think it will help him in Nevada. It’s going to bring out more anti-Obama voters and contributors. I don’t see how it’s going to help the California budget much.

  78. 78.

    shortstop

    @bupalos: Obama will probably lose some “independents” and “undecideds” over this. However, he just solidified Nevada and Colorado and made the GOP spend a lot more to defend Arizona. So, not to put too fine a point on it, fuck you, “independents” and “undecideds.”

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    “I don’t want to say it’s a turning point,” senior strategist Russ Schiefer told a gaggle of reporters gathered at Romney’s campaign headquarters in the North End. “I think it’s a continuing of an evolution. It’s a continuing of 3 1/2 years of disappointment, 3 1/2 years of people who are voters who have been promised a lot by this president, and that this president has failed to live up to his promises.”

    With Rmoney, you won’t have to wait 3 1/2 years to be disappointed. He’ll disappoint you from the moment he takes the oath of office!

  80. 80.

    Sasha

    A Rep shouts “Liar!” at Obama on the House floor, Romney’s bus pulls a Westboro on Obama in Ohio, a winger reporter breaks all decorum and tries to start an argument with Obama as he’s giving a speech.

    If I didn’t know better, I’d say that the GOP has decided its best strategy is to provoke Obama until he finally lashes out and then paint him as an angry (and thus dangerous) Negro.

    If Obama doesn’t take the bait soon, expect someone to deploy the en-dash-dash-dash-daash-dash word to his face before November.

  81. 81.

    David Koch

    Obama spoke for 10 minutes and he didn’t even mention the public option once!?

    He sold us out!

  82. 82.

    gnomedad

    @Mino:

    Browns gonna take yur jobs that the strapping young bucks are too lazy to take ‘cuz they get food stamps.

    Enhanced.

  85. 85.

    Violet

    Sorry, I’m just getting to this thread, but reading through the comments, a winger REPORTER heckled the President? WTF? How is that acceptable behavior?

  87. 87.

    Mino

    @David Koch: Ah, Axelrod, so only half a senior moment there.

    @redshirt: Yep, ass-ymptotic, indeed.

    @gnomedad: Now, that stretch surprised me. Why would pasty old white men care about that? Except the food stamps bit.

  89. 89.

    Another Bob

    You don’t have to consume “winger media” per se to get a sense of a communal grand mal freakout that’s going on amongst the wingnuts. My own local paper’s website, sfgate, has a story up about the policy and the wingers are crawling over it like flies on shit. A typical example:

    Under O’BOZO’s illegal AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS re-election ploy, the Border Patrol will now provide ILLEGALS with THEIR PAPERS: 1. A permit to freely take any job away from an American citizen for lower pay, 2. A filled-out voter registration card for the d-cRAT socialist party, 3. A union card, and 4. A bill for their union dues that go to the d-cRAT socialist party.

  90. 90.

    different-church-lady

    @David Koch:

    Obama spoke for 10 minutes…

    Which was seen by campaign beat reporters as seven minutes longer than he should have.

  92. 92.

    Martin

    @Brachiator: If they’re documented, even under work permits, they’re taxable. If this can create a few hundred thousand more taxpayers in the state, it’ll help.

    @Violet:

    How is that acceptable behavior?

    Reporter was white, president is black. It’s all good. It’s not like Obama tried to use that reporter’s drinking fountain.

  93. 93.

    different-church-lady

    @Gus: The play on Obama’s “evolution” regarding marriage equity. It’s the kind of shit GOP campaign ops seem to think score big points. It’s meat for the dittoheads that talk the code.

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    If they’re documented, even under work permits, they’re taxable. If this can create a few hundred thousand more taxpayers in the state, it’ll help.

    Illegal immigrants already work and pay taxes using stolen and fake documentation. But it may help them avoid exploitation and make it easier to get better paying jobs. A net long term win, I agree, but not much of an immediate impact on the state budget.

    Note: David Cruz, a local radio commentator says that Latino leaders are surprised and pleased over Obama’s announcement today.

  95. 95.

    Erik Vanderhoff

    @Culture of Truth:

    Immigrants are not generally eligible for federal welfare grant funds unless they are refugees. Any complaints of welfare going to illegals or work-visa holders should be directed to the state and not the federal government.

  96. 96.

    mds

    @Raven:

    “Neil Munro of the Daily Caller interrupted Obama, asking something about favoring foreigners over Americans”

    Okay, Neil. Tell you what. The Obama administration will decline to prioritize deporting native-born children who grew up here, too.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    @Culture of Truth:

    LIMBAUGH: “I have a name for this new Obama immigration policy. In case you haven’t heard, folks, very quickly: The regime today told the border agents: “If you catch young illegals, let ‘em go and grant ‘em work permits.” No more deportation of illegal immigrants. They are to be given work permits and they can stay in the country. So what this is is “Catch, Release, Vote.”

    So, once again Limbaugh not only demonstrates what a repugnant piece of crap he is, he also insinuates that illegal immigrants are going to commit voter fraud in order to “thank” Obama for assisting them.

  99. 99.

    feebog

    This is a two-fer. Not only is it a brilliant political move, which will help solidify or even bump the 65 to70 percent support that he has already, but it is the right thing to do. Most people understand that a two year old kid did not make the decision to imigrate illegally, their parents made that decision. If they have been working toward the american dream, they deserve a chance to accomplish it.

  101. 101.

    Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God

    @feebog:
    Might even be a three-fer.

    Not to be all dismal and concerny, but between this and the switch in support for same-sex marriage, I half wonder if the Obama campaign realizes the non-zero chance that they might lose, and are leaving little “booby traps of righteousness” in place in case of a Romney victory.

    Romney’s already noted that any future President can overturn an executive order at any time. But now, there are at least two uphill fights he’ll have to deal with if he wins.

    (Not that the GOP would ever hesitate to strip away as many rights as possible on Jan 21st… but you can at least make sure they’re gonna have a bad time if they do).

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